Hard Hitting Analysis of Steelers Football

The 2018 Pittsburgh Steelers have a quarterback quandary. They created it, but that fact simplifies nothing. Ben Roethlisberger, Landry Jones, Joshua Dobbs and Mason Rudolph give the Steelers a 4 quarterback preseason roster. Each offers assets to the team. But the Steelers can’t keep four quarterbacks on their roster, or can they?

After all, the Steelers have carried 4 quarterbacks on their roster twice, in 1995 and 1999.

Could they do it again? Should they do it again? Does the Steelers history with four quarterbacks serve as any sort of guide? Let’s find out….

A Youngster Learns about NFL Quarterback Depth Charts…

I’m old enough (barely, mind you) to have an big brother who explained to me the concept of “strings” using Terry Bradshaw as the Steelers first string quarterback, Cliff Stoudt as the 2nd string quarterback and Mark Malone as third string quarterback.

Sometimes, my brother assured me, teams kept four. But my first and only memory of that came in 1989 when the New England Patriots opened and closed season with four quarterbacks, Tony Eason, Steve Grogan, Doug Flutie and Marc Wilson. Each started a game, and the Patriots finished 5-11.

Keeping four quarterbacks was not a sign of strength for the ’89 Patriots, but it isn’t necessarily always the case.

1995 Steelers Quarterback Depth Chart

But O’Donnell, in the final year of his contract, talked a good game about staying in Pittsburgh, but Bill Cowher and Tom Donahoe hedged their bets.

In preseason both Jim Miller and Kordell Stewart played well and remained healthy.

Although roster limits had grown between 1989 and 1995, the salary cap had forever altered NFL roster dynamics. Keeping four quarterbacks cut sharply against conventional wisdom. But Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola resolved the question with simple logic: The 1994 Steelers had played the entire season with Fred Foggie and Charles Davenport on their roster and finished just shy of the Super Bowl.

Mike Tomczak remained as a backup, former Pitt stand out Pete Gonzalez’s audible ability had impressed Bill Cowher during the 1998 preseason, and Anthony Wright, an undrafted rookie free agent possessed “one of the strongest arms” Bill Cowher had ever seen.

The Steelers carried four quarterbacks in 1999 (yes, yesterday’s Steelers.com article was wrong, don’t believe it? Click here), as Gonzalez saw mop up duty in the opener against Cleveland, Stewart got benched and moved to wide out while Mike Tomczak finished the season as the starter.

They’d been talk of Anthony Wright getting snaps in the meaningless season finale, but that never materialized, (…although Bobby Shaw did flash his Superman jersey after catching a garbage time touchdown.)

In 1999, the 6-10 Steelers revealed their weakness by keeping four quarterbacks.

Mike Tomlin is starting him in the preseason finale and Joshua Dobbs has had a strong summer. He works hard and is probably the better option at this point should the Steelers need to play a 3rd quarterback. And Steelers 3rd string quarterbacks have seen a lot of non-mop up action under Mike Tomlin.

Landry Jones will be a free agent next spring, and the Steelers could gain salary cap relief by with two quarterbacks playing on their first contracts as backups.

The flipside to the argument is that many NFL teams only keep two quarterbacks, not three, and the Steelers need the roster spots at linebacker, tight end, defensive back and perhaps running back.

What would a fourth string quarterbackdo in 2018, anyway?

In 1995, Bob Labirola argued for keeping four by suggesting that there must be some sort of “busy work” for an NFL 4th string quarterback. There was of a sort, but “busy work” entailed Kordell Stewart playing wide out in practice.

In 1999, Bill Cowher conceded that Anthony Wright would make a good free safety in practice.

In a perfect world, the Steelers would find a way to keep Joshua Dobbs in Pittsburgh. Like 1995 and unlike 1999, carrying 4 quaterbacks would signal the strength of the Steelers 2018 roster.

But the Steelers Super Bowl window is closing, but Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert need to keep the 53 men most likely to help land Lombardi Number 7 in Pittsburgh, and that 53rd man is unlikely to be a 4th string quarterback.

So, unless injury intervenes, Joshua Dobbs’ start against Carolina tomorrow night will likely be his last for the Pittsburgh Steelers, however unfortunate that may be.